Device for handling barrels



Oct. 11, 196 CHARLES JEAN-PIERRE LEBRE 3,273,213

DEVICE FOR HANDLING BARRELS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 15, 1964 nvvelv-rqR CHARLES JEAN-PIERRE LEBRE Oct. 11, 1966 CHARLES JEAN-PIERRE LEBRE 3,278,2

DEVICE FOR HANDLING BARRELS Filed March 1.3, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR CHARLES TEEN-PIERRE LEBRE ATToRN 1966 CHARLES JEAN-P|ERRE LEBRE 3,

DEVICE FOR HANDLING BARRELS 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed March L3, 1964 u/ ill/U1 INVENTOR PIERRE LEBR E CHARLES JEAN HTTORIYEYS United States Patent 3,278,218 DEVICE FQR HANDLlNG BARRELS Charles Jean-Pierre Lehre, 35 Ave. de IOrangerie, Sainte-Genevicve-des-Bois, France lFiled Mar. 13, 1364, Ser. No. 351,800 Claims priority, application France, Mar. 16, 1963, 928,325 6 filaims. (Cl. 294-31) The present invention concerns a device for handling barrels, such as oil or tar barrel.

One of the advantages of the device of the invention is that it can be secured to an end of a barrel whatever the position of the barrel whether upright or horizontal. If the barrel is horizontal, the device enables it to be raised to the vertical. If the barrel is upright, the device of the present invention makes it possible to incline the barrel as required. The device also makes it possible to rotate the barrel about its lower edge, in any direction on itself at an angle in which, naturally, the barrel is suitably balanced.

Up to the present, for manoeuvring a barrel by pulley, block or crane it has been necessary first to raise the barrel so as to position the tackle relative thereto. With the device of the present invention, the manoeuvring of a barrel is simplified thus resulting in economy in time and labor and also greater safety.

A device for handling barrels according to the present invention is characterised in that it is formed by two detachable units, one of the units supporting the barrel, and formed with telescopic arms for engaging an end of a barrel, the telescopic arms being provided with a locking means co-operating with the end of the barrel so as to securely connect the support unit to the barrel, while the other unit comprises a chassis which can be fixed to the support unit, the barrel resting on the other unit for conveyance.

According to a further feature of the invention, the telescopic arms, of the support unit of the barrel are connected to a central spindle having means for manoeuvring the barrel and comprising an operating handle connected to a collar freely rotatable about the spindle, the operating handle acting as a lever and ensuring efficient grip for an operator thus eliminating any risk of danger and by means of a free wheel which ensures locking of the operating handle relatively to the cross bar or which permits a free wheel effect by partly or completely disconnecting the operating handle and the tubular arms. This means of handling the barrel with a free wheel effect is employed when the support unit alone is used.

The telescopic arms of the cross bar of the support unit of the barrel are adjustable so that they can be adapted to barrels of various diameters and the telescopic arms are set simultaneously at any given diameter due to a system of plate and levers which displaceably connects the telescopic arms thus ensuring that the dis-placement of only one telescopic arm controls the displacement of the other telescopic arms.

The invention will be further described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a section along the line II of FIG. 2, viewed in the direction of the arrows, of a device according to the invention and carrying a barrel;

FIG. 2 is an elevation corresponding to FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a barrel with a part of the device in portion;

FIG. 4 is a cross section taken on the line lV-IV of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a partial view from below viewed in the direction of the arrow V of FIG. 4 and showing more par- 3,273,218 Patented Oct. 11, 1966 ticularly the means for simultaneous adjustment of the telescopic arms;

FIG. 6 is a detail, on a magnified scale, of gripping jaws mounted at the end of the telescopic arms; and

FIG. 7 is a detail of an alternative embodiment of locking jaws at the ends of the telescopic arms.

A device for handling barrels 10 is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and comprises two separable units; namely a unit 1 for supporting a barrel and secured to the upper end of the barrel and a unit 2 for carrying the barrel.

Unit 2 is adjustably connected to support unit 1 and enables the barrel It] to be conveyed from place to place as required. For clarity of the description, the support unit 1 will be described first with reference to FIGS. 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7, and then the unit 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

In the drawings, a conventional barrel, indicated generally at 10 and which may be filled with a substance such as tar or oil has a cylindrical side wall 11. Each end 13 of the barrel is recessed within the cylindrical wall 11 so as to form a flange 12 (FIG. 6).

The support unit 1 comprises a tubular spindle 15 connected to radial arms 16, 17 and 18 which are of square cross-section and uniformly spaced apart. Mounted at the upper end of the spindle 15 is a toothed disc or ratchet wheel 19, the teeth of which are indicated at 20. A bolt 22, having a suspension ring 21 at its upper end, passes through the toothed disc 19, extends axially into the interior of the spindle 15 and passes through an integral partition 23 near the lower end of the spindle. The suspension ring 21 makes it possible to raise the barrel with a pulley block or crane conveniently and safely. A nut 24 screwed on to the end of the bolt projecting beyond the partition 23 bears against the partition 23 and locks the toothed disc 19 on the spindle 15 due to the suspension ring 21. A tubular collar 25 mounted on the spindle 15 is provided with a tubular extension 27 for receiving the carrying unit as will be described hereinafter. Secured to the upper surface of this extension 27 and suitably spaced apart are a hollow cylindrical guide member 28 and a support 29. A slide rod 30, having acranked free end, passes through the support 29 and is connected at its other end to a cylindrical head 31 capable of sliding within the guide member 28. The cylindrical head 31 terminates in a pawl 32 co-operating with the toothed disc 19. The pawl 32 has a general rectangular parallelopiped form, one of the faces 33 of which is rounded.

The cylindrical head 31 has a catch 35 adapted to engage in one of three slots 36, 37 and 38 formed in the cylindrical slide 28, these slots being relatively displaced through The slide rod 30 carries a return spring 39 between the support 29 and the cylindrical head 31.

This arrangement enables the collar 25 and, consequently, an operating handle 26 to be securely connected to the spindle 15. This is achieved by engaging the pawl 32 between two teeth 20 of the toothed disc 19 in the manner shown in the drawings, that is in such a manner that the rounded face 33 of the pawl 32 does not bear against the teeth 20. Thus when the operating handle 26 is moved in any direction, this movement is communicated via the spindle I15, and the arms 16, 17 and 18, to the barrel 10.

If it is desired to turn the handle without rotating the barrel the rod 30 is pulled against the spring 39 until the catch 35 comes out of the groove 36 so releasing the pawl 32 from the teeth 20 in which it was engaged. Then the rod 30 is turned through 90 either to the left or to the right to engage the catch 35 either in the groove 37 or in the groove 38. If the catch 35 is engaged in the groove 37, the rounded face 33 of the tappet 32 will be disposed so that there is obtained a free wheel effect when the operating handle 26 is turned clockwise with reference to FIG. 3. If the catch is engaged in the groove 38 the free wheel effect will be obtained when the handle 26 is turned anti-clockwise.

It will be observed that it is possible to turn the handle 26 in any direction without rotating the barrel 11 when the catch 35 bears against the outer edge of the hollow guide 28, between the .slots. In this position the pawl 32 is always disengaged from the disc 19 and, consequently, the collar '25 carrying the operating handle 26 is not coupled to the spindle 15.

Located ineach of the arms .16, 17 and 18 is a hollow telescopic tube 40, also of square cross-section, so that it can slide axially without rotating in the arm.

Each telescopic tube 40 is provided at its outer end with a downwardly extending jaw 41 which is arranged to bear against the inside of the flange :12 (see FIG. 6). Slidable in the hollow telescopic tube 40 and projecting therefrom is a member 42 having a downwardly extending jaw 43 arranged to bear against the outside of the flange 12. The jaws 41 and 43 are directly opposite one another and the flange '12 is firmly gripped between the two upon manipulation of a locking screw 44 opera-ted by a hand lever 45. It will be noted that, to obtainrapid and efficient locking of the jaws 41 and 43, the hand lever 45 co-operates with the end of a screw 44 which has a coarse thread permitting considerable longitudinal displacement of the screw 44 for a slight rotary displacement of the hand lever 45. Furthermore, the upper end of each telescopic tube 40 may be provided with a knob 46 for moving the tube in or out of its arm.

The arrangement permitting simultaneous control of the telescopic tubes 40 of the arms to adapt them to a particular diameter barrel will now be described. Located in cavity 47 formed beneath the partition 23 is a hollow cylindrical sleeve 48 locked in position by a lock- 2 ing screw 49 screwed in the wall of the spindle 15. The sleeve 48 has a flanged lower end 50 which supports a plate 51 in the form of an equilateral triangle. The plate 51 is mounted between the collar 50 and the lower end of the spindle 15 so that it can turn freely about the sleeve 48. At the three apices of the plate 51, levers 56, 57, and 58 of the same length are pivoted at 52, 53 and 54 respectively. The outer ends of the levers are pivoted at 60, 61 and 62 respectively to the telescopic tubes 40. For this purpose, and as may be seen more particularly from FIGS. 4 and 5, the lower faces of the arms 16, 17 and 18 are slotted at 66, 65, and 64 respectively to permit the movement of the links 62, 61 and 60. This enables the device to be adjusted to suit barrels of different diameters and to vary the diameter, it is only necessary to pull or push one of the telescopic tubes 40, for example, the tube shown on the right of FIG. 5, by its operating knob 46. The tube 40, sliding in the arm 18, causes the link to be displaced in the opening 64 and the lever 56 causes the plate 51 to rotate. The rotation of the plate 51 moves the levers 57 and 58 to cause corresponding movement of the remaining two tubes 40. Accordingly, when one of the tubes 40 is pulled outwardly, all the other tubes 40 simultaneously extend outwardly.

In FIG. 7, an alternative embodiment is shown for locking the jaws at the ends of the telescopic tubes. In this embodiment a telescopic tube is anranged on the end of each of the arms 16, I17 and 118. A rod 76 passes through the tube near its free end and carries beneath the tube 75 a fixed jaw 77. Above the tube 75, the rod 76 carries a cam 78 which can be rotated by an operating lever 79. The cam 78 contacts stirrup 80 pivoted at 81 to the tube 75 and provided with a displaceable jaw 82 to engage under the flange 12 of the barrel. One end of a return spring 84 encircles the pivot 81 and is attached to the tube 75 while the other end of the spring is anchored in a bore 83 in the stirrup 80 adjacent the jaw 82. In FIG. 7, the locking means is shown in the disengaged position. To engage the locking means it is only necessary to rotate the lever 79 to cause the cam 78 to actuate the stirrup 80 which pivots about the axis 81 against the action of the spring 84, thus causing the jaw 82 to bear beneath the flange 12 of the barrel and co-operate with the fixed jaw 77.

The carrying unit 2, which completes the device is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. It comprises a T-shaped tubular chassis formed by a horizontal axle 101, provided with wheels 102, and a tubular stem'100 perpendicular to and centrally mounted on the axle 101. On each side of the stem 100, and at right angles to both the stem and axle, a plate 103 is secured to the axle 101.

Each plate 103 carries a roller 104 at its end remote from the axle. The roller rotates about a spindle 105 journalled in the plate. The rollers 104 are adapted to co-operate with the side wall 11 of the barrel 10 so that the barrel '10 can be easily rotated about its axis.

A bearing 106 for a small wheel 107 is located at the upper end of the stem 100. The bearing extends in a direction opposite to that of the plates. The Wheel 107 is free to turn in all direct-ions and takes the full load when an operator moves the barrel installed on the T-shaped chassis.

One end 108 of a bent bar or rod is secured within the stem by a wing nut 110. The bar or rod has a portion 111 perpendicular to the portion 108 which is secured in the tubular extension 27 by a wing nut 11 2.

The rod ends 108 and 111 are adjustable in the stem 100 and extension 27, respectively, a feature which makes it possible to adapt the device to barrels of different diameters and heights.

The advantages of such a device will be readily understood. When the support unit 1 is attached to the top of the barrel 10 as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the end 111 of the carrying unit 2 is introduced into the extension 27 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The free wheel mechanism is looked, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, so that the barrel does not rock and the unit is inclined by means of the handle 26 so that the barrel rests on the rollers 104. It is then easily possible to convey the barrel safely as the device forms a trolley. If it is desired to empty the contents of the barrel in a predetermined place it is sufficient .to operate the free wheel mechanism so that the pawl 32 is not engaged with the toothed disc 19, thus making it possible to turn the barrel manually and easily in any direction to bring the emptying apertures or bung (not shown) near the place or container to which it is desired to transfer the contents of the barrel.

It will be easily understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiments described and illustrated, which are given only by way of example and to which additions or modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention which must be interpreted in its widest sense.

Thus, for example, the freely guided wheel 107 may be removable or collapsible. In that case its support 106 would be pivotably connected to the frame 100 and provided with a suitable locking means.

I claim:

II- A barrel handling device comprising a barrel support unit having a spindle with integral radially extending tubular arms, telescopic arms each slideably mounted in one of said tubular arms, locking means carried by said telescopic arms capable of being clamped to an end of the barrel, a collar rotatably mounted on said spindle, a handle carried by said collar, and a detachable ratchet mechanism connecting said spindle and said collar for locking said handle relative to said tubular arms or to partly connect or disconnect said handle and said tubular arms and a barrel carrying unit adjustably connected to said collar.

2. A barrel handling device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said locking means consists of a pair of locking jaws with one of said locking jaws fixedly carried by its telescopic arm for engaging the inside of an end flange on the barrel, the other of said locking jaws being move- :ably connected to its telescopic arm for engaging the outside of the barrel end flange and means for locking said other locking jaw against said barrel end flange.

3. A barrel handling device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said ratchet mechanism consists of a ratchet wheel fixedly connected to said spindle, a rounded end pawl, means .slideably and resiliently supporting said pawl carried by said collar, said pawl having a lateral catch, said pawl supporting means having a plurality of grooves each for receiving said catch when said pawl rounded end is in a different position relative to said ratchet wheel.

4. A barrel handling device as claimed in claim 1 including means for simultaneously cont-rolling said telescopic arms comprising a plate freely rotatably mounted about the axis of said spindle, a plurality of levers each pivotably connected at one end to said plate and at the opposite end to one of said telescopic arms.

5. A barrel handling device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the adjustable connection between said barrel carrying unit and said collar consists of a tube extending References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,040,134 5/ 1936 Heller 28034 2,052,45 8 8/ 19-3 6 [Froelich.

2,272,447 2/ 1942 Traxel 214377 2,893,578 7/1959 Paul 2l4-378 GERALD M. FORLENZA, Primary Examiner.

ALBERT J. MAKAY, Examiner. 

1. A BARREL HANDLING DEVICE COMPRISING A BARREL SUPPORT UNIT HAVING A SPINDLE WITH INTEGRAL RADIALLY EXTENDING TUBULAR ARMS, TELESCOPIC ARMS EACH SLIDEABLY MOUNTED IN ONE OF SAID TUBULAR ARMS, LOCKING MEANS CARRIED BY SAID TELESCOPIC ARMS CAPABLE OF BEING CLAMPED TO AN END OF THE BARREL, A COLLAR ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON SAID SPINDLE, A HANDLE CARRIED BY SAID COLLAR, AND A DETACHABLE RATCHET MECHANISM CONNECTING SAID SPINDLE AND SAID COLLAR FOR LOCKING SAID HANDLE RELATIVE TO SAID TUBULAR ARMS OR TO PARTLY CONNECT OR DICONNECT SAID HANDLE AND SAID TUBULAR ARMS AND A BARREL CARRYING UNIT ADJUSTABLY CONNECTED TO SAID COLLAR. 